MADELINE PUCCIONI

We are in GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON’S spacious living room in Washington D.C., in 1938. It is a meeting of her SATURDAY NIGHT SALON - called THE SATURDAY NIGHTERS - where she hosts struggling black artists, activists and writers, many of whom are or will be luminaries of the HARLEM RENAISSANCE. Tonight we meet OSWALD VILLARD, who co-founded the NAACP and co-edits the magazine CRISIS with W.E.B. du Bois; LANGSTON HUGHES ZORA NEALE HURSTON, a 37 year old anthropologist and novelist, just back from Haiti, where she has been studying Vodun and folk dialects. Du Bois has sent OSWALD with a list of possible cuts for Georgia’s play, AND YET THEY PAUSED, which is based on true events, involving the lynching of two men in Duck Hill, Mississippi. Georgia and her friends read the play, drink and squabble, and Georgia resists most of Oswald’s cuts and changes. “Oz” finally realizes the horror at the center of this play, and its importance: perhaps it alone can change how white people feel about lynching, and help pass the Wagner Anti Lynching Bill currently stalled in the Senate. But will lynching stop, even after the bill is passed? Has, in fact, lynching ever stopped? “Young black man has him a dream, white folks got to stop him somehow,” says Georgia’s Reverend Williams. “What happens to a dream deferred?” writes Langston, many years later.

SYNOPSIS

Who are we now, America? What have we become since Election 2016? Has the “American Dream” become a nightmare from which we cannot wake up? What has become of the dream we thought we knew: “All men are created equal?” Has it shattered into tweets and retweets, likes and lies? Or has it always been a lie? MONTICELLO 2020 is the story of a family...and its journey through slavery and Jim Crow and lynchings and violent racism, down through the years, to create space in this world, for a new baby girl who may unite them at last.

PERSEUS wants to be a great hero like Prometheus someday--but right now, he needs to save his mother, Queen Danae, from the clutches of evil KING POLYDECTES. ATHENA offers him a chance to be a hero, win a “Glorious Destiny” ---and she will protect his mother. All he has to do is slay the monster MEDUSA and bring ATHENA her snake-covered head. Oh, and while he's at it, slay her evil old sisters, The Three Graeae, as well. PERSEUS takes his Mom to ATHENA’S temple for sanctuary, and sails off to Sarpedon to slay MEDUSA, who knows he’s coming and has some profound surprises in store for him. He’ll have to resist pretty PAMMY, MEDUSA’S seductive youngest sister, and outwit her cannibal older sisters ENYO and DEINO, who want only to chop him up into tasty little bites. But what will PERSEUS lose, if he slays these ancient monsters? Will he become the hero he wants to be? Achieve his Glorious Destiny? Or must he first find the monster -- within?

Dr. Kate Wells, Chief Forensic Psychologist at Colusa State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, must determine whether her new patient, Cass Porter, (who calls herself Cassandra, Princess of the House of Troy,), is genuinely insane, or faking insanity to avoid trial for murder. Despite her skepticism, and her training, Kate forms a mysterious attachment to Cass, an ancient bond she cannot explain. Will Cass risk her freedom -- and her life -- to convince Kate there is a “dark and evil” secret at Colusa? Will Kate risk her reputation -- and her sanity -- to believe Cass -- in time to save both of their lives?

THE CASSANDRA MURDERS is also an award winning screenplay, and has won "Best Script" in the Scriptwriters & Co International Film Festival, and the Hawaiian International Film Festival. It is a Finalist in the Dublin Film Awards Festival, and may advance in the next round.

LOUISE has a beautiful new baby, KATY, whom she adores -- and she’s just been admitted into the MFA program at SFSU. Life is good. But Katy, like most new babies, screams. All the time. All the time. But Louise is doing fine. She’s a published poet. How hard can this new motherhood thing be? GEORGE, her husband, is a rock star Neonatologist, but, despite his promises, he’s never home. Louise is all alone in this big new city, but she doesn’t need help, really -- just a few hours’ sleep. She’s doing fine. Isn’t she? But Katy screams. And screams. Will LOUISE survive, in this terrifying and surreal new world of fatigue and isolation? Will Katy?

CYNTHIA re-imagines Euripides' HECUBA and updates it to the last days of the American Civil War. Sherman is marching on Atlanta, and slave-owner General Bremerton of The Acropolis, must sell four slaves in order to pay his regiment. One of them is Polly, his wife's young maid and "companion." CYNTHIA BREMERTON throws a fit and refuses to let him sell Polly to Major Achilles, of Spring Field, a neighboring plantation. Bremerton tells her the contract is signed and Achilles will collect his purchases that afternoon. Cynthia begs Achilles not to take her Polly, whom she loves like a daughter. What dark secret has Cynthia kept for seventeen long years? How will Polly -- and she--finally escape The Acropolis ---and find freedom?

Someone is murdering young Central American women who have been drugged and trafficked and forced to work "The Blade" -- Oakland's infamous International Blvd. After the 7th woman is murdered, and posed as a Madonna in a local Church, Dr. Risa Owens, ex-FBI profiler, and a genuine psychic, is called in by Detective Ghil Connelly to help. Risa is now head of a W.E.W.I.N., a non-profit which helps women escape The Blade. She will risk her sanity and her marriage to find the monster who is targeting "her girls"--- but will she risk her life?

It is the year 2542. We are in the livingroom of Family 9479, Quarry Level 4, at dinnertime. Earth is dying, and the last of the water is pumped up from deep aquifers and sold in plastic bottles. Like most KochRoaches, Family 9479 are half human, half cockroach. They can survive on very little water, thanks to the miracle of recombinant DNA. They work the pumps, living in deep, rigidly controlled warrens. JUSTIN hopes to pass the LEVEL 3 exams and move his family up to LEVEL 3, but BABY LULU drinks all the water they have for the week, at dinner, as they are saying grace. An extra BOTTLE OF WATER will cost 15 Nestles, more than the Level 3 exam fee, for which they’ve all worked so hard to save. Can PAPA trade his GOLD WATCH to THE WATER MAN for the extra bottle of water? Or will MAMA and BABY LULU have to take matters into their own … pincers?

RUTH grieves for her daughter ELLIE, who was one of seventeen people, students and teachers, shot at Stoneman Douglas High School, on Valentine's Day 2018. Ruth comes to Ellie's room every night, wraps herself in Ellie's tiger blanket and talks to her daughter, keeps her cluttered room just the way it was. But this night, Ellie visits her and begs her to get some help, and to move on..."so I can." Ellie urges her Mom to clean up her room, and stop hoarding bits of her hair, her gym socks. Can Ruth listen to her daughter and join a support group --- and try to help the broken kids like Nic, the shooter?

VAL and THEO care only about Grandaddy's new will; but what if there's a murderer in the creepy old house, a murderer who may be lurking in the library --with a knife?

HORACE comes home from his grey job to his grey apartment and finds a beautiful Jamaican woman in his kitchen, singing along to Bob Marley, and cooking Brown Fish Stew. AMAYA thinks it is HER kitchen, and her apartment, until she realizes, as she tries to chase HORACE with a knife, that she cannot leave this kitchen, and she has returned to it, once again, to find out what happened in it, years ago. She is a kind of ghost, a duppy, who cannot move on. Will HORACE help her find "justice and peace"? And her daughter JOCELYNE? And will AMAYA teach him ...Jamaica...in return?

Rico, an ageing chihuahua, abandoned years ago on Ocean Beach, must sing for his supper -- and for survival, on the mean cold streets of San Francisco. But his new friend, Jimmy, now homeless in SF, after being kicked out of his house for being gay, steals Rico's Santa hat and beard, hops the N Judah to panhandle in Union Square. . Rico gets picked up by Animal Control, a "Kill Shelter" where he meets Lacey, a doomed Yorkie. Can Rico save Lacey, and sing his way out of the County Animal Control center before his time is up?

Bad love, mad love, what's the game, what's the score, and who's playing? Ellery hides in a closet all night and swills down a bottle of Veuve and eats all the chocolates in the Valentine's Day box. What is Rob hiding from her? What's her name? WHERE DOES SHE LIVE?

Love and loss,
laughter and tears
await each one of us here
stronger than anger
stronger than fear
stronger than death --
though death may us part--
the love that pierces
a human heart

PRODUCTION NOTES: PIERCINGS

PIERCINGS, a full-length collection of “sad and hilarious little love stories,” by Madeline Daly Puccioni. is a seventy-five minute evening of theatre, available for production. PIERCINGS was published by NEXT STAGE PRESS in September 2021. As such it is subject to the following conditions and requirements:

CAUTION: Professionals and Amateurs are hereby warned that performance of PIERCINGS is subject to payment of a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of The United States of America, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth) and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including without limitation professional/amateur stage rights motion picture recitation, lecturing, publicreding, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound recording, all other forms of mechanical, electronic and digital reproduction, transmission and distribution, such as CD,DVD, the Internet, private and file-sharing networks, information storage and retrieval systems, photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed upon the matter of readings, permission of which must be obtained from the Author in writing.

Recent work

RICHARD wants to stay in San Francisco to finish his coffee table book about San Francisco’s lost PLAYLAND-AT-THE-BEACH ---but his fiance LESLIE just got a full time teaching job in Bremerton, Washington. She’s sold their condo and bought a “new old house” in Bremerton, where they can plant a garden and raise a family. They argue; they’ve been doing that a lot, lately. How can Richard leave San Francisco? And his memories of PlayLand? Then -- PlayLand comes to him -- in the form of ZOLTAR, Master of Time, seeking his lost darling, LAFFIN’ SAL. And suddenly -- all their lives become a lot more interesting.

NOBU, an honored biwa hoshi, (travelling minstrel), grieves for his beloved SETSUMI and desires only to join her in death, even if he has to become a snow ghost, like she is. But SETSUMI wants him to find her little bones and consecrate them at the temple, so her spirit can travel to the Pure Land. Her bones have washed down to the bottom of the swift Shinano river and NOBU says he cannot find them; no one can. "One step at a time, dear husband," she counsels. "One day after the next." After a series of adventures NOBU arrives at the mighty river. The horrible river monster, NAMAZU, emerges and grabs him. NOBU promises to make her a goddess, and build her a shrine if she will help him go to the bottom of the Shinano River and find SETSUMI'S bones. "Get into my belly, where it is warm and dry," purrs NAMAZU. Should NOBU trust her? What if she's working with LORD SHINIGAMI, the Lord of Death?

What if Adorable Deplorable TWEET starts listening to older and wiser EVE, and her own conscience, instead of her MAGA boyfriend DONGLE? And what if these two women, working together, can push DONGLE “offstage” go out for a beer, and
change the paradigm?

What if RACHEL could "manifest" her perfect match via The Secret and J-Swipe? Suppose she creates him, visualizes him in detail, then "asks" :believes" and "receives" him? And suppose he turns out to be a monster... but the monster turns out to be her "perfect match"?

Raine and Steve return home on BART from the San Francisco Ballet. They look elegant, they chat excitedly about RAIKU, and Yuan Yuan Tan - then a young man, homeless and incoherent, sits down with them and talks incoherently about the dark windows we see ourselves in... hurtling backwards into the night. Clearly, he knows Steve, and blames him for .... what? Needs resolution for....what? Raine realizes that Jules has been a part of her life, as well as Steve's, for a very long time. How will she survive? How will she and Steve move on, after this encounter?

OLDER MEL vividly recalls the day she and her College Prep English friends, JIM and ALAN, passed around Jim’s copy of LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER in their High School cafeteria. Shocked and embarrassed, Mel explodes with laughter as she reads a “juicy” passage. Miss Lavarini hears her and confiscates JIM’S book. Jim gets angry, swears and gets suspended. He never talks to Mel again. Mel and Alan date, and have sex, but never the “unspeakable pleasure” which the book promises. Alan goes away to an expensive East Coast college. Older Mel wonders might her life have been like, had she not been so naive, and got Jim in trouble. And had read the whole beautiful book.

Janice Daly and Keum Ja Lee discover they are half sisters through DNA testing via Ancestry.com. They meet and compare their memories of their father, who abandoned Kim's mother in Korea, in 1963. Janice wants to find a sister, and perhaps a friend; Kim, a living father. Can their vastly different lives allow them to accept and forgive their father... and each other?

Edsel and Lila, both in their late seventies, lose their pension in the Bank Disaster of 2008, and now they must sell their house. The shock of losing his pension has caused Edsel to drift into his own fantasy world. For him, the stack of boxes he must leave behind, is like a collection of old friends, sweet memories, so quickly fading. For Lila, the cluttered garage is a nightmare she never has been able to understand. While his memories protect and sustain Edsel, they attack Lila, and may disable her for the new job she's found as Work Kamper for Amazon.com. She trips and falls, is all she knows, but she gets right back up. One must "keep moving, is all. Keep moving, and don't look back." But will she be able to take care of Edsel and work the 10 hour shifts she has taken on, with her bad knee, made worse by the "accident" in the garage?

What if... Gertrude has plotted independently to poison Claudius, and feigned death herself to avoid suspicion? She wakes to find Hamlet dead and handsome Fortinbras, King of Denmark. How will she keep her throne? What's a Queen to do?

Love and loss,
laughter and tears
await each one of us here
stronger than anger
stronger than fear
stronger than death --
though death may us part--
the love that pierces
a human heart

PRODUCTION NOTES: PIERCINGS

PIERCINGS, a full-length collection of “sad and hilarious little love stories,” by Madeline Daly Puccioni. is a seventy-five minute evening of theatre, available for production. PIERCINGS was published by NEXT STAGE PRESS in September 2021. As such it is subject to the following conditions and requirements:

CAUTION: Professionals and Amateurs are hereby warned that performance of PIERCINGS is subject to payment of a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of The United States of America, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth) and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including without limitation professional/amateur stage rights motion picture recitation, lecturing, publicreding, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound recording, all other forms of mechanical, electronic and digital reproduction, transmission and distribution, such as CD,DVD, the Internet, private and file-sharing networks, information storage and retrieval systems, photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed upon the matter of readings, permission of which must be obtained from the Author in writing.

Bad love, mad love, Arsenal at Man City, money on the table, her future in the wind, Ellery hides in the closet and drinks a bottle of champagne on Valentine's day, and eats almost all the chocolates in the box. Why won't Rob talk to her? What is he hiding? What is her NAME and WHERE DOES SHE LIVE?